Phantasy Star II: The Reckoning of Algol
by Soaring Hawk
Summary: Chapter 5: Circumstances lead Rolf to the old Shure building where he learns that the Scoundrels aren't the only threat out there.
1. Hidden Within a Dream

Chapter 1: _Hidden Within a Dream_

_Its pitch black. A young man wanders about in the dark. His breaths are desperate and hurried. For not only is the cave dark, but a atmosphere of evil weighs heavily on the air within. On top of that, he is completley naked without any weapons or armor to protect him from whatever might be lurking in the darkness. He rushes about the cave in search of some solace whether it comes in the form of making an exit into the sunlight or finding someone, anyone to acknowledge his existance again. Turning a corner, he is abruptly greeted by a giant door. With no other options, he pushes it open. With some effort, he gets it open. He tiptoes in, taking a few cautious steps. And is greeted with a horrible sound. A growl that seems to shake not only the earth, but his very existance. Frozen in his tracks, this young man can do nothing but raise his arms over his face in hopes of staving off any potential attack._

_Glancing behind him, to his surprise and complete dismay, he does not see the door. He is trapped, in a dark place, a void of evil. The man is about to cry out for help! But it is in this desperate moment that a figure steps beside him and then past him. He cannot see her face well enough to recognize who she is, but even as she slips past him he recognizes the form of a girl, maybe about his age stepping confidently from the shadows to face whatever was lurking in the darkness. She carries a short sword and is wearing a protective chestplate. She carries herself boldly and confidently giving off an aura of someone who has fought her way through her fair share of difficult battles. And won them all._

_She steps past him without even acknowledging him. He reaches out his arm as if to gain her attention, but she has her sights fixed on something else. Just before he touches her arm, another cry from the darkness pulls his attention away, this time in the direction the girl is headed. She stops and braces herself for combat. And before their very eyes, IT appears._

_Horrifying in both appearance and presence, the leers at the girl with a toothy scowl. Perhaps most disturbing about the creature is its warped humanoid features. The monster seems to be almost one with the darkness as instead of legs, it bases itself into the ground, in its' own shadow. Broad shouldered and teaming with dark energy, the creature glares at the man and his mysterious companion through glowing red, demonic eyes. It is in this moment that the creature strikes._

_A fist larger than any human being swings toward the girl, seeking to drive her into dust. The girl closed her eyes._

_The man can do nothing but gasp in terror._

_In a a matter of mere moments, she leaps out of the way, striking at the demon creatures hand at the same time. The monster cries out in a fit of rage, pulling back its wounded limb. Darkness seems to be leaking from the tear she created in its hand. The girl is in a combat stance now, sword prepared for another strike. Completley naked and without a weapon, the man is helpless to do anything but watch as she fights for her life against such a great evil!_

_Red eyes glowing and another deep growl, the creature is going to strike again! But this time, the creature does not strike with its fist. Instead, it opens its mouth. Some sort of energy begins to glow from within. The girl gasps, not prepared for what happens next._

_The crimson eyes light up even brighter! In an instant, bolts of energy strike the ground, crackling upon the earth and lighting up this dark place, too bright for the human eye to see. The man shades his eyes, praying he is not struck by this devastating attack. And to his ultimate relief, as he opens his eyes, he is somehow completley unscathed._

_But wait… No! The girl has been struck by the attack. She lays faceup on the ground, wincing in pain as she leans forward to get back on her feet. Blood leaks from a corner of her mouth, and as well and some scrapes have appeared on her face. The young man wants to move in to help her, but he finds he cant move! Is he paralyzed? He is sweating profusely now, a combination of anger in nerves welling up inside of him._

_The creature has only wounded her, however and not her determination. She is on her feet again, panting as the attack had left her temporarily breathless. Once again she braces herself for combat, her sword in the ready position. The creatures eyes glow once more. The evil thing opens its mouth once again too, prepairing to launch that same devistating attack._

_This time, she wont wait for it to happen. In what almost seems like slow motion, she charges forward. The air becomes bright again. The creature has almost prepared its energy attack. She closes in, ready to strike. But if she is hit by that attack again…_

"STOP DON'T!" Rolf shouted, suddenly snapping awake. Realizing he is no longer in that same place he gazed around between ragged breaths in a panic. Even though it was dark, his eyes had adjusted as well as they could and he was able to identify a few things right away. A small room with light blue, metallic, and undecorated walls. A warm breeze was causing the curtains above the window to sway gently outward. His clock and glass of water were right where they were supposed to be: on the nightstand beside him.

He was laying in bed in his room in the capital city of Paseo on a planet of the Algol star system, Motavia. A place that was better known to him as "home".

"That dream again…" he mumbled to himself, rubbing his forehead as if to purge the memory from his mind. His forehead was moist with sweat as it all too familliarily was. The dream he kept having was always so intense, he woke up with the feeling that he had actually been there. Instincively, he reached for a glass of water he had kept waiting in anticipation of having this violent dream and took a big gulp. It was lukewarm, but still pretty satisfying.

After finishing, Rolf rubbed blindly at the surface of his clock until he found the button that caused it to glow. He could make out the numbers "4:47", causing him to laugh in disbelief. "The same time as yesterday. What are the chances?" he asked nobody. This dream seemed to haunt his mind at the same moment every night and it made him feel almost insane. He wondered for a moment whether or not those numbers represented any sort of devil hour, but dismissed it quickly, not being the supersticious type.

What Rolf hated most was that with the hour being nearly 5 already, and having such bizzare images etched in his memory, he couldn't imagine going back to sleep with any success given that he needed to be at work at 7. Who was that girl? What kind of demonic creature was that? Why was I naked? Without answers to questions like these, no sane person could expect to get any rest at all.

He sprawled back out onto the bed, stuffing his face into the pillow. _Why now? _he thought to himself in self-pitty. Today was supposed to be an important day for him according to Linda, the secretary of the agency. He was to meet with the Commander himself for a special assignment of some sort. It had been a long time since he had seen the Commander, even though he had been placed in his care at a young age, only a few years after he had been orphaned at age 10. Sometimes, he took for granted that he was practically raised by the man who oversaw political matters of the entire planet. So naturally, this was something pretty important, or so he figured. This marked just his 3rd mission after years of training which began in his childhood. Maybe some hunters were up to no good, or the Scoundrels were at it again and he needed to investigate. Something that could whet his blade's appetite. Either way, this was going to suck without a good amount of sleep.

He rolled over onto his side and thought about sleeping again. For a moment, he thought about Nei, but he knew she was alright . She had grown accustomed to sleeping on her bed he had placed for her in the living area and really rarely woke up in the middle of the night, well at least to the best of his knowldge. Hell, she was having a much easier time of sleeping than he had lately. 7 o clock would probably be a little early for her and he didn't like waking her when he didn't have to, so he worried for a moment that he wouldn't have a chance to say goodbye, but remembered that she was mature enough to realize what was going on when he was gone in the mornings. Rolf had begun to consider the fact that the divine had or whatever had made her had probably written some super-sleep ability to sleep into her genetic code or something.

Not to mention the rate at which she was maturing.

_She's growing up too fast_, Rolf thought to himself, reliving the moments in which he found her as a child, which seemed like it had just barely happened days ago to him. _I wonder if this is how a brother feels? _He thought. He had never had a sister after all, and his feelings for her were warm and unlike those feelings he had for the Commander, that was for sure. Thinking about her helped to calm his mind, helping him to eventually doze off again.

* * *

><p>Through compound eyes, the mosquito homed in on its target. The grotesque creature could almost taste a warm meal of human blood. Only a few feet away now, the creature readied its blood sucking mouthparts and prepared to land on this unprepared prey… the creature might have gotten away with it too!<p>

Only it was over 10 times the size of your average pest.

"HA!"Rolf shouted, with a wild swing of mid-legnth sword. Rolf was greeted with some satisfying slurping sounds as the creatures insides were being sliced apart. The bug was killed imeadiatly. But much to his chagrin, he had not sliced clean through it and its body, nearly half the size of his own was still impaled on the weapon's edge. And now more bio-hazards were approaching fast!

The truth was that Rolf had kept his appointment. But the Commander had some unexpected "business" to attend to. So Rolf was stuck doing this instead.

A pair of armorants crept up on him. These things were known to swarm and communicate in groups, which more than made up for their lack of quickness, as Rolf had come to learn. Green mandables opening and closing greedily, they planned on making Rolf the hives' next meal.

"Dammit, get off!" he shouted in desperation at the dead mosquito which was oozing yellow-green on his weapon. He waved his sword in a frenzy, but the corpse just wouldn't budge. The bug twitched and flapped its wings a few times, but was clearly no longer among the living. Rolf shook the blade with both hands, barely freeing it of part of the bug but the weapon was still weighted down by the creatures guts and would be pretty heavy to swing.

"Great… just my luck," he muttered. The mosquito's dead parts seemed to be staring at him with satisfaction that even in death, it could be a pest!

He was out of time. One of the ants snapped at him, but he was able to jump back in time to avoid it. The creatures could sense his vulnerability, however and were plotting their next moving around in unpredictable patterns, and attempting to close in at different angles. But Rolf still had an ace up his sleeve. "Let's try this!" he said indignantly with an excited grin on his face. He raised his hand and focused the energy within on his enemies.

"**FOI!"**

Rolf could feel the warmth of the fire technique within his entire body before the feeling of his energy draining a bit as it was focused into a decently sized fireball which propelled towards his enemies. Rolf watched confidently… that is until the creatures split up and weaved away causing the attack to miss, scorching the ground between them.

One of Rolf's eyebrows twitched upward in confusion. "What?" he demanded of the universe, in complete disbelief that he could have possibly missed. Rolf had rarely been backed into a corner and was a confident fighter. But he was losing the edge in this one. And he could swear that someone was playing music as he fought for his life. But now wasn't a time to be thinking about that! He had an enemy on his left and an enemy on his right. Something he had been taught during basic training that was a big no-no. A little less confident and now somewhat panicked, he turned to the ant on his right.

"**FOI!"**

This time the attack hit its mark, a glancing blow that ricotched off of the creature's face and into it's side. The creatured sizzled and spun around in a panic, not yet dead, but focused on a sizzling hole in the armored plates on its' side rather than attacking it's prey. Rolf sneered at the thing, but didn't have time to dwell on it now.

The one on his left was right on him now. It lunged at him with its mandables, and even though he tried to dodge its attack once again, the creature lunged at him recklessly, using its size to reach him and knocking him to the ground under the weight of its' body. his body, knocking him to the floor, his sword knocked to the ground several feet and a million miles out of reach.

"Ugh," Rolf grunted as the creature had him pinned to the ground. Excited mandables lurked mere inches from his face. Rolf quickly worked his hand free and tried once more. "C'mon…" he urged himself.

"**FOI!"**

He could feel the energy within him responding to his initiating of the technique, the usual warmth and the glow on his hand. But this time, something was different. The warmth died away quickly and the glow on his hand sizzled into nothing. Completley out of options and a moment away from defeat, Rolf continued shouting through gritted teeth. "C'mon! **FOI! FOI!**"

But there was no response.

Now, defeat was iminent as the creature had managed to completley imobilize his only free arm, and the only thing left was to sink its mandables into Rolf's neck.

"OK, that's enough! Cut the program!" he said desperatley.

He could feel the sharpness as they began to puncture his flesh. Flashes of red lit up the air around him as he took damage from the creature. It would rip him apart with all it's force now.

"SIMON! CUT IT!"

The program hummed to a halt as the forested images of wildlife that had surrounded Rolf only moments ago faded away revealing the dark grid floor of the training room. The armor ant which had held Rolf's life in his hands faded away too and beyond it he could see the window of the screening room and the technician behind the program, an interesting guy who kind of had a friendly rivalry with Rolf, named Simon.

Rolf let out a deep sigh before jumping briskly to his feet. He brushed thick locks of blue hair from his forhead and rubbed the back of his aching neck. "Nice to see that the pain simulators are still working to perfection," he groaned sarcastically.

The automatic door let out a sigh and slid open as not a monster, but a tall, dark haired man named Simon walked in, an amused expression on his face. He strode toward Rolf and the young agent could feel himself growing annoyed already and knew he was coming to gloat. "Tough luck, hotshot," he said, placing a hand on Rolf's shoulder. "I guess we still have a ways to go before you pass your swordsmanship training, eh?"

Rolf pushed the other guy's hand away, still more than a little troubled by what had happened. The VR room had a tendancy to do that to people because of how real the experiences sometimes felt. His eyes narrowed on the technician in disbelief that he had just lost. "What the hell was that?" he demmanded as if the other man was somehow tinkering with the system just to mess him up. "Why couldn't I get off those last techniques?"

The other man just laughed it off. "You fought off almost an entire horde of monsters and then tried to launch 3 straight Foi techniques. Hardly anyone has that kind of mind energy!"

Rolf sighed. One thing was for sure, the dagger and handgun VR tests had been much easier for him than this one. "Most people, I guess…" Rolf said, his voice trailling off in thought. "But I swear that I…" Mentally he was going back to the days when he first started training with everyone. He had always been ambitiously competitive and had the skills to back up his confidence. Lately he could feel that wavering a little bit as he matured. Nobody is invincible after all.

Much to the surprise of both men, the PA system of the VR room clicked on and they could hear an all-too-familiar voice in an uppitty and rudely demanding tone: "Agent Eusis, the Commander is ready for you now. Report in immeadiatly."

It was his cue to leave. Eusis was a surname arbirtarily given to him by the system because he had no memory of what it had really been before the accident. To Rolf, it was kind of a weird name and he wondered if it at least held some kind of historical meaning, but took solace in the fact that he rarely had to use it, save for administrative purposes. Simon extended an arm towards Rolf. "Well, looks like its time for your big meeting. I wonder what kind of pointless task he's assigned you," he said with a wry smile and a poorly concealed look of dissapointment in his eyes. "Maybe he needs his boots shined, or heck, some of that stuff that brings the color back into your hair!"

Rolf extended his own and shook the taller man's hand, speaking as sincerily as he knew how to. "Don't worry, man. You'll get your chance."

He was about to walk off, but he realized Simon was watching him still. Was he jealous? Well probably a little. It couldn't be helped. He was maybe close to 5 years older than Rolf, and stuck behind a desk performing mostly clerical and technical tasks. Struck by guilt a little, Rolf stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"C'mon now, Sad Simon! Smile!" he urged the guy, offering a smile of his own. "Besides, not all of us have the 'privilage' of being an orphan," he continued, feeling some shame and avoiding eye contact for a moment. "Heck, you have a family at least. Ive been at this since age… 12, remember? Hello? Orphan? Secret Government Agent in training? Not much of a social life going on here!" As he said this, he pointed at himself from head to toe as if Simon might miss him just standing there.

It wasn't compltley true of course. Its true that Rolf had no family, but the traumatic nature of the accident which took from him his parents had left no memory of his past before that. And he had good people in his life. The Governer had given him a good, mostly comfortable upbringing and had trained him in a vast variety of things which spanned, from scholarly pursuits to martial trainings with a variety of weapons. The people from the agency had always been there for him, providing their knowledge and resources for and even friendship for him too. Then there was Nei… to Rolf, that one was special alright.

Simon scratched his head in confusement. Of course he new Rolf was right. He looked for a moment at the young guy. Bright and sincere deep blue eyes, and thick bluck hair. Sure, he was a little conceited sometimes, overcompetetive and a bit of a hothead. But agent Rolf was also the most honest man he had ever met. True to the same values he held, even as a kid.

"Well, you have a point," Simon said, raising his index finger in thought. "But Im telling you, this agency is missing out on pottentially the greatest agent of our time!"

Glad that the guy had lightened up a little, Rolf offered him a thumbs up and a grin. "Only time will tell, my friend. Wish me luck!" he said as he stepped out of the VR room and toward the elevator. And just before the door shut, he remembered a small detail that had bothered him in the fight. "Seriously? Battle music? At least change the track in there, would ya? Its cheezy, hurts my ears, gets stuck in my head when Im trying to focus and sounds like its from ancient times!"

Simon stood perfectly still as if shocked for a brief moment. He even gasped a little in surprise, something that was lost on Rolf as he entered the elevator. "Did he just…? Hey! A lot of people think Ustvestia's stuff is really catchy!" he said defensivley even though his companion was already long gone.

Meanwhile, Rolf was feeling some unexpected pressure building up inside. What exactly would happen when he met with the Commander? He wasn't exactly a guy you could run up to, hug, and call "daddy". Now that Rolf was a man, every encounter they had was strictly business. _What a day this is turning out to be…_ Rolf thought to himself as the machine hummed to a start and he prepared to meet the leader of the entire planet known as Motavia.


	2. Placing Burdens

Chapter 2 _Placing Burdens_

Rolf could hear the alternating of furious scribbles at a notepad and equally furious hammering at a computer keyboard from the desk across the room. The secretary, Sally, kept her head down and had not even acknowledged his exiting the elevator and entering the room. He might have made more of an effort to make a proper greeting if it had been anyone else, but he knew that such things would have been completely wasted on this woman. She was nothing but business, after all. Instead, he tried something else to break the ice.

"So, the Commander is busy, huh?"

The woman dropped her writing utensil and glared across the room at him through smokey tinted lenses. "Agent Eusis, you are aware of what today is, yes?"

Rolf grinned. "The first day of the rest of our lives?"

Not even a smile. The secretary shook her head and went back to work. Rolf was disappointed, because he liked that joke and had been saving it for a while. What a waste. Of course he knew what day it was. A particular day of the week where the commander had various meetings and appointments. Well often, they were cancelled or never fell through, but in times of crisis such as these, his being preoccupied was to be expected.

With that all said and done, he gazed out the window behind him from the comfortable armchair he sat in. Paseo was bustling as always. It was to be expected; Paseo had long been the planet Motavia's capital city and had a history of being a place where people lived pretty comfortably. Rolf was nearly on the top floor of Central Tower and the view was just spectacular. People were walking along the finely paved footpaths, perhaps to spend time with friends or partake in some leisurely activity. Children were playing in the green fields. Buildings of all shapes and sizes providing opportunites for entertainment and relaxation. The Mother Brain had really provided the people of Paseo with a beautiful safe haven that was an unbeatable combination of nature and innovation.

On the other hand though, any man, woman or child knew that things were completely different beyond the safe, protected walls of Paseo. And things were only getting worse. Rolf couldn't help wondering about how much longer these easy times would last.

"Agent Eusis."

Rolf snapped his head in the direction of Sally. Probably one of the few people in the agency that referred to him by that name all the time, she took herself too seriously!

"The Commander is ready to see you now."

* * *

><p>The door to the council room creaked quietly open, and Rolf poked his head in. He caught a glimpse of familiar objects: the large table and many oddly shaped chairs surrounding it for when big meetings took place. Old looking pictures hanging about the rooms of historical objects. And at the head of the table, sat Commander O'Connell.<p>

"Have a seat, agent," the man requested in a stern tone of voice.

Rolf cleared his throat and chose a chair at random. It was a little over halfway down the row, so he wasn't too far from the Commander. He sat down, folded his hands, and gazed at the old man still not really sure what to expect.

The Commander was a daunting figure. As far as Motavia went, he was the head of most executive decisions. The army was his to command as well. Stone gray hair and a large physique just even furthered the aura of a very important person that he carried. Rolf was kind of used to him by now but ever since he had been promoted to agent 2 years ago, their relationship had become much more business oriented.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, " O'Connell spoke in a more casual manner this time. "Let's begin."

The old man reached down at a keypad in front of him. The council room door shut. The lights blacked out. The robotic sensors and cameras creaked to a halt. And in the distance, there was some kind of horrible screaching alarm.

"Huh?" Rolf gasped, anxiously slapping his hands on to the table and launching himself to his feet.

"Good morning, Rolf. How are you?" the man asked, his timing extremely inappropriate for the disaster that seemed to be unfolding around them. His voice was insanely calm and his composure equally so.

"Sir…? I'm, ok?" Rolf practially blurted, horribly shocked and confused. But he trusted the Commander and sat back down in his chair.

O'Connell spoke. Rolf could no longer read his facial expressions, as the man's face was outlined in shadow. "Listen to me, and relax, Rolf. We don't have much time."

_Time?_ Rolf wondered. He thought about the alarm. He had been in the building for numerous safety drills. The building would be evacuated and robot scouts known as "whistles" would inspect the building for imminent danger approximately 10 minutes later. Whistles were just designed by Mother Brain to spy on and tattle on small time crooks. Was there something he didn't want the whistles to find out though?

"We all know that the Mother Brain has provided this once desert planet, with bodies of water as well as healthy plant and animal life for us to survive. We also know that the mother brain provides us with robot servants to provide and protect for the citizens, however…"

Rolf leaned forward, tuning out the alarm and listening as attentively as he possibly could. The old man stood up and turned away from Rolf in thought.

"I have believed for most of my life that the Mother Brain does not make mistakes," he continued. "But… you've seen it, Rolf. Bio-hazards. Monsters. They are a threat to our very continued existence on this planet. Many people have already been killed. And the outbreak is only getting worse."

"Where do I come in, sir?" Rolf asked eagerly. Of course he had wondered the same things! But what could he possibly do to help?

The Commander dramatically turned back to Rolf and leaned on the table close to him. Up close, Rolf could once again see the emotion in the man's wrinkled expression. He was feeling like any other person on Motavia. Uneasy. Desperate. "We need to figure out why these things are being created! I'm most certain that the computer data we need is on the system recorder in the Bio-Systems Lab."

Rolf thought back to his schooling. The Bio-Systems lab was a place where animal life was cloned by the Mother Brain to provide Motavia with a healthy, working environment. Lately though with the outbreaks and the death toll rising, things were far from healthy for human life. Mother Brain was pumping out things that didn't mind the taste of human flesh.

"The Bio-Systems Lab… that's near the city of Oputa, is it not?"

"That's right. Though I am not certain of the current condition of the lab. For years we have allowed Mother Brain to create these structures with androids serving her purpose without even questioning what exactly is going on in them and what kind of harm they might bring to our society in the future. I'm sure you're just as weary of that as I am…"

Rolf nodded. It was true. He had always felt a little tied down by the system. More than that though, he wanted to know who was messing with it to make life so miserable for everyone these past couple of years. Hackers? Crazy people? It made his skin crawl just thinking about it! After all, nobody really knew the main location of the Mother Brain! Only the smaller terminals located here and there which communicated with the main server.

"As you may have already figured out, this mission cannot go on record," the Commander warned. "This was the purpose of shutting down Mother Brain's censors in the building. Only the highest ranking officials of society have been informed of this plan personally by me. We truly believe sending an agent on a covert mission is the only way to get to the bottom of this urgent issue without putting the government at risk of stepping beyond the laws of Mother Brain. I know you have only been an agent for 2 years, but I am confident in what I have taught you and how you have performed on your virtual reality tests. You truly are our greatest hope, Rolf."

It was too much for even Rolf to bear all at once. Greatest hope! He hardly felt competent enough to call himself an agent! To have the entire planet depend on him to grab that data? He felt more unworthy of the task.

"One more very important thing! Do not trust anyone with your true identity or purpose! Out in the field, you are to refer to yourself as Eusis. This must be covert operation. If you are caught, I am most certain, Mother Brain would send her robot police, the Polezi, to arrest you and possibly sentence you to death for tampering with the system. There will be no visophone contact or government funds for you on this mission, because these things are traceable by the Mother Brain. Do you understand, Agent Eusis?"

"Yes sir!"

The Commander offered Rolf one last gesture. He clamped his broad hand onto Rolf's shoulder. "I believe in you, Rolf. I truly know that you'll make it back safely. I'll see you again!"

* * *

><p>The next few moments of Agent Rolf or Eusis's life did not even exist to the best of his knowledge.<p>

He wandered home through those very same roads that he had peered at from high above in Central Tower. He went against the flow of the very people that he had seen moving about, acting like they had important places to be. Nothing had changed! It was almost as if he expected someone to notice something different about him and how much weight had been placed on his shoulders. But of course, to them, he was still just an ordinary guy. And they were all just stupidly happy about life even though death was lurking just beyond the bounds of the city.

It was an out of body, almost surreal experience for the young man. So many thoughts running through his head. He would have no recollection of the steps he took to get home because the burdens he was shouldering weighed much more than something as simple as making his way home.

After sliding his keycard through the key slot, the door to Rolf's house hissed open. And much to his surprise, it was was dark. It was at this point that his mind returned to him and a little bit of reality kicked him.

"Nei…?" he wondered aloud, stepping inside cautiously and pressing the switch that brought the electronic door sliding back shut behind him. Completely inside now, he gazed back and forth throughout the living area of his house. Nothing looked out of place, so it didn't look like a break-in of any sort had taken place. He breathed a deep sigh, almost dismissing thoughts that someone may have come for Nei, or broken in just to do her harm. Still, where the heck was she?

Rolf slid his fingers across a control panel which slowly brought the light fixtures on the roof to life. With the lighting a little better now, he stepped forward. Softly.

"Nei?" he tried again, a little louder this time. "Nei, I'm home!"

He paused, waiting for her response, but still. Nothing.

At this point, he was becoming a little frustrated more than anything else. What was going on here? Then he remembered something from the past. "Nei!" he shouted, taking hasty steps into his own bedroom and straight to his bed. It would have been comical to him almost, if not for the fact that he knew exactly where she was. Lifting up the sheet, he stuffed his head underneath his bed and found exactly what he was expecting.

"R-Rolf!"

Rolf waited a moment for his eyes to adjust and saw a grown young woman with some slightly unnatural features stuffed in the small space beneath his bed. "Nei, not again…" he sighed, but finding a little comfort in this small bit of grief as it didn't even compare to what he was feeling from earlier on in the day. "Why now?" he demanded, his head still tilted sideways, peering underneath the bed, his eyebrows narrowed on the girl in a state of frustration.

"I have a good reason Rolf, I promise…" the girl said, a little meekly, perhaps not ready to admit why.

"Ugh… Nei!" Rolf sighed, closing his eyes briefly in thought. "You look ridiculous down there. And squished! Just… come out and talk to me, ok?"

Nei nodded in agreement. As she slithered her way toward him along the floor, Rolf backed away, waiting for her to emerge. Finally removed from her hiding space, he took her hand, when it appeared, helping her to her feet. She stood before him, the irises of her large, almost cat-like eyes glowing their usual ethereal reddish color. It was amazing to him that people out there didn't consider her to be human! Sure, there were some small superficial differences. Well, not all of them too small. But looking into her eyes, he saw emotion. What's more human than that?

"Well? I'm ready…" Rolf said expectantly, folding his arms across his chest to express his own seriousness.

"Well…" Nei started. She hesitated a little, averting eye contact, obviously a little embarrassed. "You see… After I finished the lesson you wanted me to complete on your computer, I thought about going outside for a little while…"

"Now Nei!" Rolf began critically, but she cut him off and continued.

"I know Rolf. I'm not to go out into town without you. And I wasn't going to! I promise," she said defensively. Her long ears twitched a little in frustration. "I just figured… that I would just go out and get some fresh air for a few minutes. That's all."

Rolf knew where this was going. And he didn't like it. He could see a pained expression on Nei's face and really was wondering why. It wasn't like he was ever _that_ hard on her for anything. "OK… so why exactly were you hiding underneath the bed?"

Nei tried a little harder to make eye contact. But she was never really good at that, even with Rolf. It was understandable though, taking into consideration some of the events of the past. "It was really nice outside!" she began with a little smile on her face this time. But it faded away as quickly as it came. "I saw some I could feel a breeze so I stepped into the sunlight a little and then… I thought I saw…"

She stopped, looking at the ground again. Rolf's eyes lit up in recognition.

"I thought I saw _him_ out there…"

Rolf hesitated, looking for the right words. He let out a sigh and glanced at their surroundings for a moment. It wasn't really possible that he could have found them, right?

"Look, Nei," Rolf said warmly, trying to raise her spirits. "You must have been mistaken. He couldn't have possibly traced you here! And besides! Its me you're talking to. He's not getting into the city without me knowing about it. Government Agent, remember?"

Nei looked up at Rolf again with a faint smile. He was pointing at himself with a self-confident grin. Rolf liked that he made her smile this time, because it was a good smile; this time he could see it in her eyes.

"Rolf… you're right. Still, when I think that people out there still might want to take me away, I…"

Rolf offered her his hand, just as he had done since she was little. He couldn't help thinking about how they had grown just as big as his in such a short time… "Relax. Its been a while now. He couldn't even recognize you anymore. Besides, that's why we've been careful about keeping you hidden."

Rolf knew deep down, staying hidden wouldn't be enough. Especially because she was changing so quickly. Nei still looked uneasy, so he offered a few more words of comfort. "Y'know, at least… for the time being. Someday, I'll find that guy and you know what I'll do?"

"What?" Nei wondered, looking at him with a hopeful expression.

"I'll kick his butt!"

Nei giggled. She found warmth in this gesture as she always had. Rolf had saved her and gave her a home when others had tried to kill her. He was truly the only person she could trust now. She took his hand and placed it on her face, rubbing against it for comfort. Rolf grimaced a little at first, but smiled. She was still just like a kid in spite of her adult appearance. She was so compassionate, just like a little sister. And what isn't human about that?

"Thank you Rolf…" she whispered.

* * *

><p>Some time passed. It was late afternoon now. Rolf was leaning back on the comfort of the little couch he had in the living area. He could still hear noises from the program on a modestly sized screen on the wall across the room. Bad music and singing.<p>

"_You might be blue, but I like you! I think you're rad even though you eat trash…"_

It was a children's program, one of Nei's favorites that came on everyday. It was about little kids singing songs about happy things with the native Motavian people who were actually just weirdos in costume dancing around. Nei loved it, but today, she just couldn't find the energy to stay awake. Napping seemed to come naturally to her. Her head rested on Rolf's thigh, and her legs were tucked in so she could lay down without falling onto the hard floor below.

Rolf rubbed the sleepiness out of his own eyes. "I hate that show…" he mumbled to nobody. He then pressed the button on the remote that shut down the program and glanced down at Nei to see if she was awake. She wasn't, and had something of a contented smile on her face as she took in the deep, passive breaths of sleep. Rolf was still unsure of her origins, but one thing was for sure, she was more important to him than anyone! How could he tell her that he had to leave for who knew how long?

Rolf slid his body away from Nei slowly, placing a cushion in the place of his leg as he did so. Nei yawned and sighed, gripping the cushion and much to his relief, stayed asleep. Of course he was worried about leaving her on her own! But what other choice did he have? He was potentially putting his life at risk and such a thing was no place for someone he cared about as much as Nei.

With the lights down low in hopes that he wouldn't wake her up, Rolf began to gather a few important belongings. A small pack to carry water and travel rations for when he journeyed between cities. A few daggers for protection as well as a small side-arm in case things got really dicey. As he was putting on his body armor, he stopped for a moment and thought about Nei. There was plenty of meseta in case she needed to buy something and he hoped she had seen him do it enough times to know how… but still, he found himself feeling very troubled.

He was ashamed to realize that a part of him just wanted to slip out without telling her. After all, in telling her, he was letting her down all the same. But he steeled his nerves and approached the couch to find…

…that she was not there!

"Rolf…"

Rolf felt pain creeping on his insides as she spoke. He glanced up to see her standing down the hall just by the door, the expression on her face hidden in shadow, just like the Commander's earlier that day. What had woken her up? In his surprised state, he only mustered up one word.

"Nei…"

"Rolf, what's going on? Where are you going?"

Rolf couldn't hide much from her now. After all, his clothes and his equipment were a dead give away. "Listen… Nei," he began, taking slow paces towards her. "I have to go away for a while."

He waited for a response. But she gave none. She just stared at him. So he found that he could do nothing but continue.

"The Commander needs me to investigate… something. I don't know how long it will take, but I'll try to hurry," he said, now standing right before her. "Look, we've been together for a while and you're not a kid anymore. I'm leaving you some meseta in case we run out of food… I know you can take care of yourself without me, just for a little while. OK? I care about you as if you were my own sister."

Still, she gave no response. Rolf was wondering why she wouldn't just move. It was making it that much harder on both of them! But finally, she spoke.

"I sensed something earlier today, and I feel worried. If anything happened to you Rolf, I…"

"Nei, nothing is going to…"

"Rolf, please take me with you!"

Rolf hadn't put much thought into that course of action. But the answer was still simple. "No Nei," he said sternly, awkwardly feeling like a parent once again. He'd rather feel like an overbearing brother than that! "Its out of the question! This job might get really dangerous. And there are a lot of crazy people out there that won't accept you yet. I'm sorry, but no."

He began to walk around her. But she spread out her arms and stood her ground, all the while, staring at him dead in the face. "Nei, I don't have time for this!" he said, a little urgency forming in his tone.

"Rolf, please! I can't let you go into danger alone!"

"It's not the first time! Now please…"

"But what if monsters hurt you and you need…"

"I've spent years training for that!"

" …and… and what if you get lost…"

"I have a map, Nei!"

"…or maybe some bad men get you and you don't come back…"

"NEI!"

She stopped, gasping for air a little. Rolf for the first time, became aware that she had been crying a little not too long ago. And he was that made her cry. Thinking about this made him grimace in pain a little. How could she have known what he was doing without his telling her? "Nei, stand aside please," he said, attempting to soften his tone.

But Nei did not move. She shook her head abruptly back and forth. No more crying, only a sharp gaze straight into his eyes.

"Please Rolf. I'd do anything for you."

It was in this moment that Rolf saw something in her that he had somehow overlooked before. Past the young adult features that she had developed over the past several months, there was someone else looking at him too. A little girl who knew nothing but hate and violence, but still found compassion for people. A tenacious, kid, who managed to evade bloodthirsty mobs and money hungry hunters and still had the capacity to care.

Yes, he remembered this look well. She was truly a special person. He still wondered how she had sensed what was going on, but decided to drop it. "Heh heh…" he chuckled a bit, grabbing his belongings. Confused, Nei strengthened her guard, bracing herself to block his path with all her might if he tried to escape. But he didn't.

"What are you waiting for," Rolf said, offering a warm smile to her once again. "Let's go."

Nei gasped. Her big eyes grew wide. Her long, cat like ears even seemed to perk up. She practically threw herself at the agent, embracing him with all her being. Rolf grunted a little in surprise, and responded by hugging her back with one arm and playfully patting her head with the other. He felt a little of that weight on his heart easing off. Maybe bringing her with him was the best option. For both of their sakes.

"So stubborn…"


	3. Fire in the Night Sky

It was nighttime. And even though the walls and security teams of every city on the planet Motavia were designed to keep bio-hazard's out, there eerie evening songs to each other could be heard just as loudly as if they were living right amongst the citizenry. Giant bugs among other things just outside the walls were stirring and making all kinds of sounds.

Not that many were concerned. Monster attacks had been a problem, but ever since cities stepped up their security measures and had army personnel defend the boundaries, there had been no casualties at all within city limits. At any given time you could look up and see soldiers patrolling the city's boundaries. Some kind of automatic defense system involving robots was said to be in place too.

So in spite of how ominous sounds of insect beasts might seem, the people had grown rather used to them. After all, why worry when the bugs were zapped if they got within eyeshot of a posted guard or sentry robot?

So nightlife continued as always. Not to be confused with the normal things that people did during the day. The night was a whole different animal. Some people slept all day just so they could be awake at night, and with no reason to have a job, why not? People partook in what they believed to be "rebellious behaviors" so that they might let loose a little. Drinking, dancing, running in circles about the streets and shouting at the top of their lungs… of course there was no gambling because Mother Brain's androids would see to it that you were imprisoned for such an infraction. Or anything else Mother Brain felt to be severe infractions of law for that matter. No one ever really overstepped these boundaries out of respect for Mother Brain's ever watching eye.

At one particular night club in the city of Arima, things were going normally. People sat around, chatted, gossiped. A select few were brave or drunk enough to dance. Trance and techno rung loudly through speakers with strobe lights flashing in an almost blinding pattern. The bartender dished out all sorts of wildly colored drinks which had some kind of additive that made them glow in the dark. Every person was enjoying themself in their own definition of the word.

Everyone, except one guy.

It was clear to see by the protective chest armor he wore over his black clothing and the sturdy combat boots on his feet that he was a hunter. Hunters were like mercenaries, hired guns who worked through special agencies and could be hired for any sort of dirty work that needed to be done. With monsters posing a threat to civilians worldwide, they found themselves constantly employed and making money. Well the ones that could withstand hoards of monsters attacking all at once at least. Unsurprisingly, some of them wound up as corpses. Nonetheless, this occupation was thriving in such dangerous times as these.

This particular hunter, most people noticed enter the club right away. He was an imposing figure of tremendous height, from the clanking bottoms of his combat boots to the top of his crew-cut blonde hair. He had a muscular build and stone-cold, "don't mess with me" kind of aura. He carried his arms tensely at his sides and his shoulders square even as he walked. But one other thing seemed to stand out to those that chose to watch him.

He was confused.

The hunter spotted the bar and wandered across the dance floor and walked toward it. He got a few dirty looks as he pushed through the crowd of people dancing, but no one dare said a word to him. A young couple was dancing wildly there. The girl swayed her body so violently that she crashed into the hunter and fell to the ground; a combination of ignorance, clumsiness and alcohol. Her boyfriend gasped.

"Gabby! Are you ok?" he shouted hysterically. He knelt down to help his dance partner up. She leaned forward in his arms, but was too intoxicated to stand. "Hey, Rot-Head! Watch where…"

The hunter turned around to face the one who was yelling at him. It was at this moment, that the boyfriend realized just how big that man was, and why nobody had messed with him to begin with.

"I mean… sorry. Just. Yeah, it was an accident."

The hunter just turned away and took a seat at the bar. The mustached bartender slid over, anxious to sell to this new patron.

"Beer please," the hunter requested.

"Hey, you ain't from around here, are ya?" The bartender asked, trying to start conversation. Well let me tell you, this! Right here, in this club, the great composer Ustvestia himself is supposed to…"

"Beer please," the hunter interjected.

"Uhh, ok? How about an Electric Blue Motavian shaker instead? Or have you tried the Piata Passionfruit…"

"Beer please."

"Jeez, alright! What kind?"

"I don't care."

The bartender shook his head and muttered something about the nightlife in this town before proceeding to see what was on tap. Meanwhile, the hunter gazed expressionlessly at the people, swaying about to the rhythm of the electronic sounds of the trance music. This was definitely not his scene, but he didn't know of any other establishments to grab a drink in this town, unfortunately.

Looking at these people, caused him to begin to involuntarily grimace at them. They were such carefree fools. They would be here until the early hours of the morning, and sleep away their sober existences until it was time to return here for the next nightfall. Never worrying. Never working. Never fighting for their own lives.

Or for the lives of others for that matter.

It was in this moment, that he sensed the drink being placed on the counter near him. He instinctively grabbed it, thanked the Great Light for the bartender finally shutting up, and took a decently sized swig. The first thing he noticed was that the cup was purplish in color and shaped kind of like an hourglass which made him hate this place even more. Then he noticed the beer tasted almost like water. But it was to be expected in a place that sold specialty drinks that lit up different colors under the strobe lights.

The hunter closed his eyes and took a deep sigh, still holding the glass near his mouth. Finally, he was starting to feel a little relaxed. He began to lower the glass, clearing his mind of the things that were prodding at him. He could almost tune out the rave music in the background, and his thoughts about how naïve and foolish people were, and the anger in his heart when he thought about the monsters, and how the only way to get piece of mind was to get…

Revenge?

The glass crashed into the counter with a thunderous boom!

The hunter's eyes snapped open. Somehow, a chorus of screams could be heard over the music. Had he caused this? He gazed at the glass, sitting on the counter. The glass sat motionless in front of him, completely unscathed, which could only mean one thing.

_**BOOM!**_

Thunder struck again. The hunter stood up, abruptly in his seat and turned to face the people dancing behind him. And what he saw, was pure chaos.

The once celebrating and dancing people were scattering about the room. They could be scarcely seen as the flashing of the strobe lights made it a little hard to tell exactly what was going on. The hunter couldn't help but notice that some people lay motionless on the ground as well…

_**BOOM!**_

This time, the hunter crouched and slunk his way to the ground and worked his way behind the bar. He noticed that the bartender was gone and wondered if he had escaped somehow. He also knew exactly what those sounds were now. They were all too familiar after all. What the hunter was hearing, was the sound of shotgun fire.

He reached for the gun holstered at his side. It was a small handgun called a "Bowgun". Kind of a standard sidearm for soldiers, he had relied on this weapon in the past to get him out of a tight spot. He could hear a few more shotgun blasts and cries of frightened, panicking, and even in-pain club patrons. He was sure would need to rely on this weapon now. The music had not stopped, nor had the lighting of the club as colorful strobe lights still danced around the building. Gun in tow, the hunter peered around the corner of the bar to get a look at the assailants.

There were two men still standing on the dance floor amidst a mess of bodies and blood. The first thing he noticed about the gunmen was that they wore bright yellow masks with black smiling face features painted sloppily on them. They were scanning the area, shotguns poised for attack as if looking for someone else to shoot.

Only this man was not intimidated.

With one well aimed shot, bowgun popped as the hunter shot one of the assailants square in the forehead. He slunk backwards and crumpled to the ground, dead.

His buddy panicked momentarily. But his fear drove him to fight back and he sporadically fired a shot in his direction, screaming at the top of his lungs. The hunter rolled back behind the bar and heard shotgun pellets scattering and rolling all over the place. He gritted his teeth anxiously, before making his next move.

Crawling to the opposite side of the bar, he peered around the corner. He noticed the assailant was a little desperate and trying to close in on where he had just been hiding moments earlier, his aimed fixed on that exact spot. Big mistake.

After a few moments of creeping underneath the chairs propped up near the bar, the hunter was able to sneak around behind him. He placed the muzzle of the gun to the back of the attackers head, covered in messy green hair. The man gasped as his hands shot immediately in the air. A shotgun dropped to the ground without a sound in the chaotic dance hall.

"Who are you?" the hunter demanded.

"Please…" the man pleaded with him. "Don't do this!"

The hunter responded by cocking the weapon menacingly and shoving it a little harder into his head.

"OK, OK! Just don't shoot!" the man panicked. "I was hired by a group to loot the town! We were gonna blow away some buildings with dynamite to get everyone out in the open. Then they were gonna grab someone important or something!"

The hunter considered this new information. He jerked the gun painfully into his new victims skull. He was feeling anger and confusion. "Which group! Who's trying to kidnap who?"

The man stammered and blabbered some nonsense. The loud music and muffling happy face mask didn't help. "W-Well the leader of the group thought it would be smart to hold this girl ransom. And while we were at it, to grab any valuables, you see…"

_**BAM!**_

The hunter had no time to react. In an instant, the man he was interrogating slunk to the ground, dead.

In the doorway of the club stood another smiley-face guy holding a smoking handgun. The hunter reacted by firing a few shots at him, but the guy took off into the night completely unscathed.

"Damn…" he groaned to himself. He had accomplished nearly nothing and was now totally confused. But he caught a break.

From the radio of the dead assailant before him, he could make out a single voice message. "Scoundrels! Return to base with whatever loot and hostages you can bring with you! We've got her!"

"Scoundrels?" the hunter echoed. He grabbed the shotgun off of his former hostage, examined it and found it to his liking. Then, he made his way past a crowd of bodies and on toward the exit.

And as he approached the doorway, he could already hear the chaos in the streets and could see that hell which had formed along the skyline of burning buildings, courtesy of the dynamite that man had told him about.

* * *

><p>Rolf strode a little anxiously down the long tunnel corridor. The passage was a structure of great integrity as it was designed to keep Paseo safe of the threats of the outside world. It took several minutes just to trek to the other side of the thing with bright lights and surveillance equipment the whole way. If some unwanted creature happened to make its way into the security tunnel, it would be detected and dealt with well before it reached the city where it could cause harm.<p>

All cities on the planet relied on technology to keep the monsters out in some fashion. After all, these monsters were creatures fighting hunger and relying on their instincts. These times had no place for things like caution and reason.

Rolf was also a bit caught up in his thoughts about his upcoming mission. He kept wondering to himself just how exactly he was supposed to accomplish anything without being able to communicate with anyone. And ever worse, without much detail and information to help guide him.

And then there was one other thing occupying agent Rolf Eusis's mind.

"Nei?" he wondered aloud, glancing to his side where she had been moments before.

"Right behind you..."

Rolf turned around to see his little companion following him in the shadows a little further behind then he had originally thought she would. "What's the matter?" he asked her. "Having second thoughts about this finally?"

"N-No! It's not that!" Nei stammered, a bit frazzled by her situation. "It's just… this."

The pointy eared girl took clanking steps out of the shadows. She was covered from head to toe in the thickest Ceramic Armor Rolf could find at the weapons store just before they left. The suit was composed of body armor and thick combat boots that even a soldier might have a hard time moving around in.

"It's what?"

"Are you sure I need to wear all this stuff?" Nei wondered, looking a bit tired as she asked. "I don't think I like carrying a heavy load much, Rolf."

"Of course you do!" Rolf blurted. You don't understand how dangerous these bio-monsters are! And… where's your shield? I swear I bought you a shield!"

Rolf examined his partner for a shield and started peering down the corridor they had been traversing for it too. Nei let out a soft sigh. Maybe Rolf was right. Maybe she wasn't cut out for something so dangerous as combat.

It was in this moment that something caught her eye while Rolf remained distracted in his desperate search for a shield. A trickle of bright light at the end of the dim tunnel.

"Wow!" she gasped and sprinted for it. As she ran, she realized her combat clothes were too heavy for her to run well at all. So she shed articles as she went along. First the shoulder pads, then the boots, then the chest plate.

This act went completely unnoticed at first by Rolf, who was still looking for a shield he never bought while muttering things half to himself about being careless and half to Nei for being more careless.

Nei meanwhile, free of her Ceramic Armor and everything related to it sprinted for the tunnels exit. The beam of light grew larger and larger as she got closer. Before long, she was there. The door was already open and awaiting her and Rolf's arrival. A door to a new and unfamiliar world.

There was a great big field of green grass almost as far as she could see. Then there were trees, hills, and all kinds of plants. And the sky was so blue, with just a few clouds drifting off in the distance.

"This is…" she whispered at first completely in awe…

"AMAZING!" she shouted, unable to control herself now.

The young girl ran and twirled around, giggling gleefully all the while. She had been confined to Paseo for as long as she could remember, and had only seen pictures of the outside world from the database of Rolf's computer screen.

"NEI!" Rolf shouted, clumsily making his exit out of the tunnel too. Nei caught a glance of her protector carrying the pieces of her battle armor the best he could, dropping some things as he went. "What do you think you're doing!"

"Huh?" Nei wondered, not understanding why he was mad.

The automated door of the tunnel closed behind them. Rolf jerked in surprise and frustration, glancing at the path which was now closed off to them.

"Great, your boots were still in there!" he growled. "And look at you, you can't run around wearing…"

Rolf gazed at Nei. She was wearing a purple one-piece bathing suit looking thing he had bought for her as undergarments. Once again, he was reminded of how she was a little girl months before, and now was a full-figured young woman.

"…that."

"But this is waaayy more comfortable!" Nei said cheerfully, not understanding why Rolf was so bothered by it. "But that's not important! Look Rolf!"

"Look at what?" Rolf asked her, frustrated and confused at this point.

She ran over to him and tugged on his arm a bit. She then pointed, towards the fields of grass, the trees, the sky.

Rolf couldn't help but smile a little. "Oh yeah. That. I guess it's been a long time since you've been outside of the city, huh? Everything must be so new and fascinating to you."

Nei looked at Rolf, completely puzzled. "I've… been here before?"

"That's right, Nei. I'll have to tell you about it more someday."

"Yes! I mean… please yes," Nei said, hugging him for no reason other than her excitement and energy mounting. "I feel so at home out here! Everything is so beautiful… except… that black cloud over there."

Rolf noticed Nei grimace a bit in disgust as she glanced off at the horizon. "Black cloud…?" he wondered. He tried to look in the same direction she was. And when he did, he noticed smoke drifting up in the air way off in the distance.

"That's strange… I'm pretty sure that smoke is coming from Arima," he said to himself.

"Is it normal for cities to give off dark clouds like that?" Nei wondered impatiently.

Rolf had no explanation for this, and no real answer for his partner. "I guess we're gonna have to find out…"


	4. Darum

"Rolf? I thought you said it was dangerous to be out here. But I don't even think it's scary at all anymore."

Agent Rolf Eusis was walking along at a brisk pace through lush green fields of grass and picturesque hills of greener trees. The environment of Motavia was so healthy. Any person living their life on this planet, however, knew that it was all thanks to Mother Brain and her climate control networks.

"We're lucky is what we are, Nei. There are many threats out here. I wasn't just making that stuff up, you know. And it would be so easy to just teleport to Oputa, but that kind of thing would be traceable by Mother Brain unfortunately… so we have to endure the monsters and be careful. Understand?"

Rolf's companion, the mysterious creature/person called Nei was practically skipping about at an even more energetic pace. Occasionally she would go well ahead of him, periodically stopping as she became mystified with her new surroundings. Rolf kept a watchful eye on her, knowing full well that lately, Mother Brain and her systems had been pumping out knew life on the planet capable of mass destruction.

Nei made her way to Rolf's side for the first time in a while. "Yeah… I know," she said, a little disdainfully and in denial of her beautiful new world being so dangerous. "But you are an agent, right? You can just kick the monster's butts!"

Upon finishing this statement, Nei demonstrated a few punches and kicks, causing Rolf to brighten up and chuckle a bit. "Who taught you stuff like that? Nei, you and your TV programs. I think when we get back to Paseo, I should alter the programs you have access to."

Nei tilted her head in confusion. "Uh… actually Rolf. I learned that from you. You said something like just yesterday."

Rolf gazed at her and hesitated for a moment.

"Oh. That actually kinda makes sense," Rolf said with a wry smile. He sometimes forgot how quickly she picked up on things. Just another unbelievable thing about her to go along with her appearance and her amazing growth rate. "Anyway, we're almost at the next security tunnel. Once we get through that one, we're not too far away from Oputa. Which is good because we don't want to get stuck wandering out here at night…" he added, glancing at his surroundings cautiously.

"Yeah… You do not see so good in the dark," Nei added, sullenly. "Actually you do not see so good when it's light, either. Maybe you should get… glasses? That is what they are called, right?"

Rolf laughed again, but only because he knew Nei was simply concerned for him not trying to be offensive. "Yes, they are glasses. No, I would not be caught dead wearing them."

The two were in pretty good spirits and for that, Rolf was glad. He was finally beginning to feel at ease for the first time since he had spoken to the Commander. At this rate, they would arrive in the city of Oputa well before sundown where they could spend the night somewhere before heading for the Bio-Systems Lab. And hopefully, without any encounters from monsters along the way.

Rolf and Nei approached the automated door of the tunnel which would lead them to Oputa. It was a pretty large technologically advanced structure in the middle of a natural landscape which was an interesting sight to see in the middle of nowhere. Most of the landscape of Motavia was like this though, a combination of seemingly pure environments with state of the art buildings and cities here and there.

"OK," Rolf said assumingly. "Now to slide my agent ID card, and we should be good to go!"

The agent proceeded to swipe his card in the designated slot just next to the door opening mechanism. The device responded with a beeping sound, and Rolf reacted to the door as if it were about to open.

Only it didn't.

"_Access denied_," a female computer generated voice responded.

Nei glanced at Rolf questioningly, as he blinked a few times in confusion. "That's strange," Rolf said to himself. "That usually works."

Rolf tried again, this time sliding his ID card a little slower and more deliberately. "_Access denied,_" the voice responded again in the exact same tone. Rolf experienced a shortness of breath for a moment in his confusion and exasperation of the situation unfolding before him. So he did the only thing he knew might work.

"Computer, this is agent Eusis. I'm running a simple errand for my supervisor in Paseo. Why can't I gain access to this structure?" He asked, while holding down a button designed to speak with the automated computerized help terminal.

"_Sorry agent,"_ the computer said in the same monotone feminine voice, completely uncomprehending of the agent's urgency. "_This structure has been locked down until the situation in Arima has been resolved_._ We appreciate your understand-_"

"Dammit! I knew that dark cloud was Arima!" Rolf shouted, slamming his fist against the console. Nei flinched in surprise, not at all prepared for this outburst. She moved closer to Rolf in hopes of helping him calm down, all the while, the computerized voice continued to speak. "_I am sorry you are frustrated sir. But striking inanimate objects will not help resolve the situation in Arima. I can provide you information on an anger management seminar in Paseo scheduled next Thursday if you…"_

"Rolf, what's wrong?" Nei asked, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Rolf sighed and glanced at his partner. "Nothing… Nei. At least nothing we can do anything about. For now. It looks like we're gonna need to make an unexpected detour. That's all."

Nei offered Rolf a smile for comfort. "A detour! That sounds fun!" she offered, warm-heartedly. However, her expression twisted from a smile into blank stare almost immediately. "Wait, what is a detour?"

Rolf smirked. She did have a knack for cheering him up. "It means we have to waste our time going the wrong way. But yeah, good point. This should be real good fun. Well at least we'll get to find out about that dark cloud of yours."

The look of happiness faded from Nei's face a bit when she thought about the dark cloud she had seen earlier. But for Rolf, she remained confident. "Yes. We will go to the dark cloud and learn of the secret behind it. And we will kick butt if we need to."

Rolf shook his head. There she went again. He didn't say anything as he had come to realize that there was little he could do to stop her from talking like that anyway. Once she picked up on something and made it her own, that was that. "OK, ok Nei," he said, putting up his hands defensively. "Let's just get going."

As the two began the long march for Arima, Rolf hesitated for a moment. He gestured at Nei to stop and wait for him, and walked back to the console attached to the entrance of the tunnel. "Computer, this is agent Eusis again… uh, sorry for hitting you earlier. I was just wondering if you could provide me with any surveillance info on this particular structure. Just in case it will help me gain any information on the Arima situation."

"_I forgive you, agent Eusis. Just do not do it again. Scanning for relevant data, please be patient this time,"_ the computer lady voice responded.

Rolf waited a brief moment and could hear some beeping and what was presumably scanning sounds coming from the console. "_Matches found,_" she said, only somewhat more cheerfully this time. Images of Arima appeared on a small screen in front of Rolf, showing the rubble of burnt down buildings, a badly singed landscape of roads and structures, and a mass collection of the dead in the streets.

"Woah, that's bad... Damn," Rolf gasped, glad that Nei was out of range of these images. This was way unlike anything HE had even seen.

"_Also, this man is currently within this structure agent, and was able to enter just before it was locked down a few hours ago. His motives are currently unknown by the database, however, he is currently being closely monitored by our robot police, the Polezi for criminal behavior. There have already been a couple of close encounters."_

Video feed from a surveillance camera within the tunnel replaced the images of Arima on the screen. The image zoomed in on a brown-haired, mustached man dressed as a hunter with a large sword drawn and a sullen look on his face. His eyes were glued to the tunnel entrance as if he was waiting to pounce on anyone who dared enter. Rolf's eyes widened as he knew immediately who this man was.

"It can't be…" he whispered to himself. "It's him!"

* * *

><p>A tall blonde hunter trekked through the ruins of fallen structures. Fresh rubble crunched underneath his combat boots. He walked about with an emotionless expression on his face, scanning the ground he covered for clues. He was the same hunter who was attacked in the nightclub just the night before, and was now seeking to understand why the city of Arima became the sight for such a massive terrorist attack. Unfortunately, the hunter had not unearthed many clues. He had found a few happy face masks that the attackers had worn to cover up their identities. He had also seized one of the lackey's radios and learned that the group responsible was called the Scoundrels. And lastly and most importantly, before one of the grunts was killed by his own, he had revealed to the hunter that the group had been targeting someone specifically to take hostage.<p>

Maybe some sort of ransom was involved here? Either way, he didn't have too many leads. The tall hunter took a deep breath, propping one of his legs atop a crumbled piece of building, and leaning forward against his own knee for support. The rubble had elevated him to a point where he had a pretty good view of the surrounding city and even some of the landscape just outside of the safe walls. It was late afternoon and would be sunset soon. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. He was pretty much ready to call it quits after this. After all, a hunter's primary incentive is not serving the greater good, but earning meseta.

He took in a big drag before letting out a puff of smoke, finally feeling a little relaxed since the incident in the nightclub. But it was through this puff of smoke, that the hunter spotted his next lead.

A girl… with, horns?

The hunter rubbed his eyes to try to clear up his vision a little. But sure enough, there was an unusual looking young woman walking in the grass towards the city's entrance, accompanied by a blue haired man. Not horns, but long ears! She also had long, purple hair and was wearing… something this hunter would never want to see someone's daughter wear, that's for sure.

He stomped out his cigarette and followed them discreetly, hoping not to catch her attention. Or that of her companion for that matter.

* * *

><p>"Dynamite?" Rolf blurted. "How did the Scoundrels get their hands on explosives like that? That stuff was outlawed by Mother Brain about a century ago."<p>

Rolf and Nei had arrived in Arima not too long before they were noticed by the people working to rebuild the city. Not to mention the mayor of Arima himself. The two were exchanging questions and information with the mayor and a few remaining citizens of Arima who had chosen to follow along. Rolf was pretending that he and Nei were activists working for the government to create a plan on how to provide Arima assistance. It was all a ruse though, he was really just determined to get on with his mission. Among the group of followers, Rolf had noticed a few ladies, a couple of kids, a middle-aged man, and a tall kind of menacing looking blonde guy. Rolf thought of disguising Nei to avoid any trouble regarding her looks, and she wore a thick veil over her head to disguise her ears.

"You're absolutely right about that. I've looked into the matter myself already," the old man mayor of Arima agreed. "The Scoundrels must have had it stored away over the years somehow. Or maybe they just made their own explosives."

Rolf noticed that Nei was spacing out looking at something and glared at her to make sure she was following along with their act. She snapped out of her daze and shrugged at Rolf in complete confusion.

"Either way, that's not important," the chubby bearded old man continued. "You work for that O'Connell, the governor of Paseo, don't you? What are you going to do to help us?"

Rolf held up his arms defensively. "Whoa, hey! Slow down. I never said I work for O'Connell," Rolf lied in an effort to maintain the cover that O'Connell himself told him to keep as a priority. "I told you already that I'm just a social activist who was traveling with a recon trooper making his rounds when we noticed the damage! I spoke to my superior and came as quickly as I could. I promise."

The mayor of Arima rubbed his white goatee for a moment, scrutinizing Rolf and Nei and pondering on his story. "Very well, I admit that you don't really look like much of a soldier, agent, or spy anyway. I mean, taking your girlfriend to work seems… a little unprofessional, wouldn't you say?"

Rolf was a bit shocked and taken back by the mayor's remark. He looked at Nei who gave him a blank expression in return. He thought about mentioning that she was not really his girlfriend, but realized that it wasn't really worth arguing and wasting time over. So he smacked himself in the forehead instead, unable to say much more about it and defend himself. "Right…" he simply agreed. "Anyway, there was one more thing I wanted to discuss with you. It seems that someone is blocking the Western Tunnel leading to Oputa. I checked the surveillance data and it looks like a hunter. A big guy, with a moustache and a big sword, too."

The mayor glanced back at the people accompanying them. A few words were muttered, and the townspeople seemed to nod in agreement about something. Rolf also noticed that the big blonde guy who was part of the group was now gone for some reason. "You mean, you ran into Darum?" the mayor spoke, somewhat hesitantly.

"Darum?" Rolf wondered. Was this the name of the man who had tried to kill Nei?

The mayor glanced away from Rolf for a moment, hesitant to speak further on the subject. He let out a sigh before continuing.

"Yes, just hours after the attack, we sent some of our people out to Paseo and Oputa in hopes of gaining some assistance. The convoy to Paseo made it completely unscathed. However, the convoy headed toward Oputa was stopped at the bridge crossing by a hunter named Darum. He robbed them of all of their weapons, equipment, and meseta before sending them back here empty handed. So I had the tunnel locked down with him inside of it for our safety."

_I knew it! _Rolf thought to himself. _That man is definitely evil!_

"Why would he be demanding everyone's supplies? Is he a criminal?" Rolf asked, trying to confirm what he already knew to be true.

The mayor of Arima looked Rolf in the eyes. It was a look of conviction and certainty. "No, he is no such thing, and you are a fool for asking such a question," he spoke, never averting his eye-contact with Rolf. "Darum has always been a hero of the people. As a hunter, he has accepted many quests without pay, slaying monsters just for our safety. He is a family man who loves his daughter. You would do well to remember this before you make any more stupid accusations!"

The old man and his entourage left, leaving Rolf and Nei standing alone on the lonely street surrounded by broken buildings. The sun was getting lower on the horizon and shadows were reaching out for them. Rolf shook his head, thinking they were wrong about him. He thought about his encounter with Darum just months before. And how he had raised his sword high in the air, trying to strike down an innocent child.

"Nei," he whispered.

"What is wrong? Why are you so troubled?"

Rolf looked at his companion once again. A concerned expression on her lips. An innocent look in her eyes. A caring heart. No man who could take her away from the world was a good person in his book.

He managed a smile. "It's nothing. Let's go get some rest."

* * *

><p>Rolf thanked the clerk at the local inn and walked toward his room with Nei still in tow and wearing her veil. It seemed that many of the Arima survivors had no shelter and sought refuge at this inn. Still, he was fortunate enough that there was just one vacancy left.<p>

"This is good, Nei," he said warmly. "I was worried we wouldn't be sleeping on real beds tonight! But now we can rest before heading out tomorrow morning."

Nei stared at Rolf quizzically as they walked. "Tomorrow? Do you mean we are going to try to stop that man? …Darum is what they called him?"

Rolf grunted his response and gave her a short nod. He was reluctant to share with her the true identity of the man who was blocking their path. He knew that Nei was still afraid of him. There were still times in Paseo when she thought she saw him and didn't know how to handle her emotions. He couldn't even begin to imagine how traumatic the experience was for her.

"Will we… kick his butt?" Nei wondered, a hopeful trace of a smile appearing at the corners of her mouth.

Rolf reached for the card key slot next to the door of their room and swiped it. "I hope so, Nei. I mean, everyone in Arima thinks that he is a good guy. But I don't buy it."

Rolf continued talking as he opened the door and stepped into the dark inn room. "Good guys don't do the kinds of things he has done. So he must be up to something…"

Nei froze in her tracks just as she stepped into the room and gasped. Rolf, unknowing as to why she would react like this walking into a simple hotel room, activated the light switch.

And realized that he was staring down the barrel of a shotgun.

That shotgun was aimed directly at Rolf's head. And behind that shotgun, was a tall, blonde man. A hunter. The shotgun let out a click as the man cocked the weapon threateningly. An air of tension and silence filled the room. Nei's eyes wide in shock and fear. Rolf's mouth wide open in disbelief and helplessness. And the man's eyes, expressionless and full of anger.

Finally, the silence was broken by the hunter.

"Darum isn't up to something… You are."

He spoke softly and in a deep hoarse voice. He then grinned a little bit, realizing he had his victims exactly where he wanted them. Everything had worked out according to plan. The aim of his gun remained fixed on Rolf's skull. The expressions on the faces of Rolf and Nei had hardly changed at all.

"I'm sorry to intrude without introducing myself. Greetings. My name is Rudolf Steiner."


	5. Crisis at Shure

Frustrated and utterly defeated, Rolf sat on the hotel room bed and stared motionlessly at the wall before him. He was wondering where he had gone wrong. Had he not covered his tracks well enough? The mission had barely started and already it seemed like it had come to an abrupt halt. What would he say to O'Connell? If he even survived long enough to see him. He remembered how the commander assured him that they would meet again, and he wondered if the man had overestimated Rolf's abilities. And without knowing the motives of this stranger who had him and Nei in his clutches, there was no saying whether or not he wanted them alive or not.

Nei on the other hand had barely reacted to this man. This was somewhat unusual to Rolf because she was so afraid at the thought of Darum or even the possibility that she had seen him that she would run and hide under his bed. But with both of their lives in danger, she just looked on thoughtfully. Rolf had to assume that she was simply paralyzed by fear.

The man who had identified himself as Rudolf Steiner paced back and forth methodically, tinkering with his weapons all the while. He seemed to be thinking about his next move. Whoever he was, Rolf knew he must be up to no good. Why else would someone need hostages?

Steiner finally broke the silence in the tension filled hotel room, stopping at the foot of the bed and speaking to his hostages. "A recon guy, huh?" he said, eyeing Rolf for a few moments. "…the hell you are…"

"What do you want from us?" Rolf blurted. He didn't want to provoke this man into doing something crazy, but his patience was beginning to wear out.

Steiner shook his head. "It's not about what I want from you. It's about what you want from me."

Rolf sneered and gave the man an exasperated look. "What would I possibly want from someone like you? Besides letting us go of course. And don't think I won't report this to my boss at the reconnaissance agency!"

"Oh cut the crap!" Steiner growled, lifting his shotgun up in a menacing motion. Rolf winced and glanced at Nei. This guy definitely seemed crazy enough to shoot innocent people. Nei however, was still in shock and unresponsive. "I know you aren't from Reconnaissance! I've met some of those dorks in the past. Your gear, your bearing. This… girl," he said, nodding toward Nei. "I know who you really are…"

Rolf said nothing and waited for Rudolf Steiner to continue. He was still feeling pretty miserable that he had been caught and was interested in learning how it had happened. He also had mentioned Nei… he realized he should have done a better job disguising her. So far, people had not really paid her any mind and those that noticed she looked a little different hadn't really been mindful enough of it to give them any trouble. But this man had noticed…

"I'm not just an ordinary hunter," he said, his tone shifting from threatening, to sincere. "I am a former soldier. A deserter of our military."

Rolf considered this new information. If what this man was saying about himself was true, he was considered a criminal according to the Laws of Mother Brain. Terms of military service were predetermined and the termination of contract was administered by the system itself. Those who deserted the military were outlaws. Banned from many of the comforts of common citizens, and most likely imprisoned if ever arrested for any particular reason following the breach of their service.

Rolf could not help but comment on this. "Why are you trusting me with this information?"

"I have deserted for personal reasons which I'm not obligated to share with you," Steiner continued. "However, your mission is something I want to be a part of… Agent Eusis."

Rolf's eyes widened in recognition. How did this man know about his mission? Maybe he had not made any mistakes after all. Perhaps O'Connell had been careless in who he briefed about the mission, allowing some crazy guy named Rudolf Steiner to know all about it.

Rolf remembered what the commander had told him, however. He would play this farce until the end. "I don't know what you're talking about, man. Let us go!"

Steiner almost laughed. "I am privy to the secret files of a certain high ranking general in our military. I found the file on your mission. I am not here to sabotage you but I won't let you go unless you let me join."

"Not a chance!" Rolf barked, giving the man an angry leer.

Steiner hesitated. He obviously had not expected Rolf to attempt to maintain his cover after everything he had presented to him. His mouth was agape as he thought out his next course of action. He moved as soon as it came to him.

"So, you want to do things the hard way? Fine."

Steiner raised his weapon once more, this time not at Rolf. The agent instinctively reacted but was shoved down by the larger man using the metallic barrel of the shotgun. "DON'T try it…" Steiner growled, glaring daggers at a helpless Rolf. "You've had your chances to be honest. Now I don't like doing this kind of thing but you've left me no choice."

He raised the weapon to Nei's temple. Rolf gritted his teeth. He was going to kill Nei and there was nothing he could do to stop him. "Tell me about your mission or I blow this girl's brains out!" Steiner shouted. He then cocked the weapon to demonstrate that it was loaded. "NOW!"

Nei had hardly even flinched when the cold metal touched her head. She kept her head completely motionless but her eyes scanned the room at the gun, Steiner, Rolf, then back straight ahead to the wall. Rolf couldn't help but feel grief when he thought about what she was going through. Someone who the world had treated so harshly because she was different. Yet she was able to treat others with compassion. If he got out of this alive, Rolf would make this man

"OK stop!" Rolf said, his voice cracking a bit due to the pressure and his emotions. "You're right. I work for O'Connell. I was sent to investigate the bio-systems lab. Please don't hurt her…"

Rudolf Steiner shifted his attention back to Rolf. His expression also softened back to a normal state which was frightening to Rolf in and of itself. "Bio-Systems lab…?" The man then proceeded to lower his weapon away from Nei's head and back to the ground. "So the Governor is finally doing something proactive about these monsters…" he said softly to himself.

Rolf glanced at Nei at this point who still had hardly moved. He was trying to think of a way out of this still but nothing plausible came to mind when he considered all his options. Steiner had confiscated his weapons and equipment before this interrogation began.

Steiner edged closer toward Rolf and spoke. "Hey you. Let me join you. I can be a big help on your mission."

Rolf was not in a position to refuse, even though he likely would if he could have. But at the moment he was somewhat taken back by this offer. It was about as strange as when he revealed his desertion from the army.

"Why?"

Steiner hesitated for a moment. He scratched the back of his head with the back end of his gun in thought. "Look, my reasons are highly personal. But I need to see that place for myself. My training and expertise with any kind of firearm is something you really need by the looks of things. And I overheard your conversation with the mayor of Arima. I can tell you where the Scoundrels' base is located. Privy to information… remember?" he said, pointing a finger at his mind.

Rolf definitely did not trust Steiner. But he was on the verge of getting out of this situation and was in no place to back out now. Still there were some issues he needed to work out. "…How do I know we can trust you?"

The tall, blonde hunter lowered his eyes to the ground. "Trust…?" He seemed uncertain as how to answer this. He almost looked melancholy as he pondered his response. He then glanced back up at Rolf. "Look… your name is, Eusis or something. Right?"

"Rolf."

A third voice soft-spokenly piped up. Both men turned their heads in the direction of the person in the room who had done no talking up to this point in surprise.

"His name is Rolf, sir," Nei said politely.

Rudolf Steiner gave Nei his full attention now. The tall man walked closer to the part of the bed she was seated on and slouched a bit to lower himself to her level. "You don't say, young lady," he said in a much friendlier tone than they had heard him speak so far. "I believe you. All agents have aliases, right?" as he said this, he sneered a bit at Rolf for his prior dishonesty. "And what's your name?"

At this point, Rolf jumped into the conversation. "Don't trust him! He could have killed you a moment ago!" Steiner shot Rolf a glance but there was nothing which he disagreed completely in the point Rolf was trying to make.

Nei placed a hand on Rolf's shoulder to comfort him. Then she continued. "My name is Nei," looking the hunter directly into his weary, dark eyes, she offered her hand to shake his own. "Nice to meet you Mr. Rudolf Steiner."

Steiner couldn't help but smile as he offered her a firm grip on her own, smaller hand. "Nei, huh? That's a unique name. You can call me Rudger if you'd like as a sign of friendship. It's my middle name. I like it better than my other names," he admitted with a wry smile finally appearing at the corners of his lips. "I'm sorry that I scared you earlier."

Nei shook her head in a very childlike fasion. "Uh uh," she grunted in disagreement. "I was never scared. I knew all along that you weren't going to hurt me or Rolf."

Rolf gave Nei a perplexed look. She had hardly ever interacted with anyone besides Rolf and usually when she had encountered strangers, it was a negative experience. Plus the last man who had pointed a gun at her, Darum, was a great source of fear and struggle for her on a daily basis. "And how did you know that, Nei?" Rolf demanded. "He sure could have fooled me," he added, returning the sneer to Steiner.

Nei folded her hands against her chest and closed her eyes for a moment. "I could sense it," she simply said.

It was surprising to hear her say that. But no one chose to question it.

* * *

><p>"The Scoundrels are based here in the old Shure building? Are you positive?" Rolf inquired.<p>

"That's right," Steiner acknowledged. "After the government came after them a couple of years back they needed to find a place which was safe from detection. This old Shure building was once a factory from a great manufacturing company in the olden days when human workers were required in order to build the robots who serve Mother Brain. But as you know it was shut down. Mother Brain has evolved so that this type of work is done automatically and completely regulated by her systems. Scary thought, eh?" he added.

The group had made their way north of Arima near the coast where an abandoned factory stood before them. There were many structures like this across the planet. As technology continued to evolve, some of the old ways of life had to be left behind in order to make way for change. The outside of the building was rusted to the point where the metallic frame of the building had been rotted away in some areas. There didn't appear to be any signs of life, at least from the outside.

"The Scoundrels must have used their hacking skills to shut down the mainframes in this facility to avoid detection by the Mother Brain," Rolf deduced. "Very clever… We need to get in there and find out what exactly they took… and who they took."

"Are we going to fight them?" Nei wondered. Rudger Steiner's holster for his sidearm was attached to her side just in case she got into trouble. One of Rolf's daggers was also clumsily strapped in to the holster too. But the idea of Nei having to shoot or stab someone was the last thing that Rolf wanted to play out. He hoped that between him and Steiner, she could just lay low and avoid conflicts.

"I sure hope not," Rolf muttered. "Let's just get in there and put an end to this! We can't proceed with our real mission until this is all settled."

"I hope we have to fight them!" Steiner scoffed. "Those bastards deserve a painful death after what they did to Arima. They took hundreds of lives and abducted a few people in an attempt to gain ransom too from what I've gathered." He approached the entrance of the facility and motioned for Rolf and Nei to hide off to the side a little. He placed his back to the wall next to the door and knocked firmly with the hand directly at his side being cautious to not stand directly in front of the door in case of a pending attack.

There was unsurprisingly no response.

"Well, we don't need an invitation, let's go!"

And with that, Steiner slid the door open and entered abruptly, poised for combat with his shotgun raised in a very professional looking manner. He pointed to the left and to the right then gestured for Rolf and Nei to follow.

Rolf was carrying a bowgun of his own and held the weapon in both hands aimed downward as he entered the building next. The floor was a dull color and cracked in many places due to the age of the structure. The walls lit up randomly in some parts of the building but it was clear to see that many of the circuits were broken or had simply died over the years. And above their heads ran a series of cables and pipes which had formerly been designed to carry out manufacturing. "Are you sure about this Steiner? I don't hear a thing. Sounds deserted actually."

The hunter continued investigating their surroundings until he approached a wall with a red smear on it. The big smudge of red had also leaked downward to the floor below with trails of red streaming out. Steiner ran a gloved finger across one of the streaks.

"Is that… blood Mr. Steiner?" Nei asked, her eyes wide with concern.

"Rudger," he reminded her. "And yes. Pretty fresh. They were here alright…"

"Must be from one of the victims," Rolf added disdainfully. "Well there are a few levels in this building, right? Maybe if we work our way upstairs, we can find out more."

The hunter nodded. The group followed his lead as he lead them into a more open area of the facility, a room where several varieties of machines had once been constructed by human operatives. Now with most of the equipment gone, it was a wide open space. But there were a couple of staircases just beyond the large expanse of a room which could take them upstairs.

The group plodded on in eerie silence, save the footsteps on the old, metallic ground. As they neared the center of the room, this silence was abruptly broken.

"_**SCREEE!"**_

An inhuman cry echoed throughout the corridor and shook the foundations of the old building. Nei jerked in surprise, Rolf instinctively pulled her in closer and Rudger pointed his shotgun in multiple directions, trying to determine which way the noise was coming from.

The next sound was a rumbling and scraping against the ground, getting louder… and louder.

"No, it can't be…" Rolf gasped.

"They're coming!" Rudger shouted, trying to brace everyone for what was going to happen next.

"_**SCREEE!"**_

A whirling blade flew from out of the shadows giving Steiner barely enough time to evade it. It wasn't a man-made weapon, but a living part of a bio-monster called a Locusta. The mantis like creature reared back and prepared to charge. The blade had dug itself into a pole just behind the hunter with a loud clang.

"Arrrgggh!" Steiner responded with a war cry and began firing blindly in the direction which the blade had come from.

From out of the shadows there was a rush of bio-hazards of several varieties much more agile than the Locusta. The giant mosquito creatures called Insectas, the monsters which attacked with giant mandibles and used deliberate coordination to swarm their enemies better known as Armorants, and of course, the Locusta which had attacked Rudger. Some of them dropped dead and oozed out as they emerged full of shotgun pellets. But from just behind them, countless others flew, crawled, and slunk their way into view all with the same intention.

Turning Rolf, Nei, and Rudger into their next meal.

"Damn!" Rolf shouted, with urgency in his tone. He pointed his bowgun and let loose several shots, taking down a couple of the Insectas as the hovered in for a fresh meal of blood. Nei grabbed her own gun, but still unsure of how to use it, did nothing but stare in awe of the danger unfolding before them.

Steiner on the other hand, walked toward the mass of bloodthirsty creatures as he let loose several blasts of his shotgun in succession. It was easy to see why he favored such a weapon. With guts spraying all over the place, a decent chunk of the hoard dropped dead, particularly the ones which had moved into close quarters. It was effective, but with more of them looming throughout the halls of this building, it was not nearly enough.

"There are too many!" Rolf called out to Steiner while reloading his gun. He had killed a couple of monsters so far, but didn't have the ammunition to take on an entire legion of them. He couldn't help but think that he already didn't stand a chance. For a brief moment, Rolf considered using his Foi technique to burn a couple of the bio-hazards, but he knew full well that draining his energy in a position such as this would be foolhardy. Much to his dismay, he glanced back in the direction they came from and noticed a few more bio-hazards emerging from that direction. Grabbing Nei's hand, he made his way to a staircase which was temporarily secure of the surrounding monsters. "We have to get upstairs!"

Steiner was experiencing one of the drawbacks of using a shotgun. While he was an expert with firearms, a shotgun still took a decent amount of time to reload. He placed the shells carefully while moving back to give himself more space from the attackers. "I'm not running from this fight! I'm gonna take down the whole lot of them right here and now!"

And with that he fired off a few more shots. An Insecta managed to get into really close quarters. Avoiding the stinger he sent it down with another well aimed blast. Orange goop sprayed all over him but the hunter seemed unfazed and ready to kill whatever came after him next, his eyes wide and his teeth gritted together in an expression of sheer hatred.

"You're crazy! We're leaving whether you come or not!"

It wasn't exactly what Rolf wanted to do. He and Rudolf Steiner had their differences, sure. It was really undesirable to someone like Rolf to leave anyone for dead. But for the safety of Nei, they abandoned their new companion and moved up to the next level of the old factory. Ideally he would have just left the Shure building, but the bottom floor had already proven to be infested with the bio-hazards. And if this place was crawling with monsters, what chance did the Scoundrels have of surviving? Was Steiner's information about this place even true?

All of these questions were swirling through Rolf's mind as he led Nei up a dark staircase, the sound of their boots clanking against the iron grating. He held her hand in his and kept his weapon at the ready in case of another ambush. Already the sound of shotgun shells being fired haphazardly became more and more distant…


End file.
